Ḥadīth (/ˈhædɪθ/[1] or /hɑːˈdiːθ/;[2]Arabic: حديث‎ ḥadīthArabic pronunciation: [ħadiːθ], pl. Aḥādīth, أحاديث, ʼaḥādīth[3]Arabic pronunciation: [ʔaħadiːθ], also "Traditions") in Islam are the record of the words, actions, and the silent approval, of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Within Islam the authority of Ḥadīth as a source for religious law and moral guidance ranks second only to that of the Qur'an (which Muslims hold to be the word of Allah revealed to his messenger Muhammad). Quranic verses (such as 24:54, 33:21) enjoin Muslims to emulate Muhammad and obey his judgements, providing scriptural authority for ahadith. While the number of verses pertaining to law in the Quran is relatively few, ahadith give direction on everything from details of religious obligations (such as Ghusl or Wudu, ablutions[4] for salat prayer), to the correct forms of salutations[5] and the importance of benevolence to slaves.[6] Thus the "great bulk" of the rules of Sharia (Islamic law) are derived from ahadith, rather than the Qur'an.[7]

Ḥadīth is the Arabic word for speech, report, account, narrative.[3][8][9]:471 Unlike the Qur'an, not all Muslims believe Ahadith accounts (or at least not all ahadith accounts) are divine revelation. Ahadith were not written down by Muhammad's followers immediately after his death but several generations later when they were collected, collated and compiled into a great corpus of Islamic literature. Different collections of Aḥādīth would come to differentiate the different branches of the Islamic faith. A small minority of Muslims called Quranists reject all Ḥadīth.[10][11]

Because some ahadith include questionable and even contradictory statements, the authentication of ahadith became a major field of study in Islam;[12] in its classic form a hadith has two parts — the chain of narrators who have transmitted the report (the isnad), and the main text of the report (the matn).[13][14][15][16] Individual hadith are classified by Muslim clerics and jurists into categories such as sahih ("authentic"), hasan ("good") or da'if ("weak").[17] However, different groups and different scholars may classify a hadith differently.

Among some scholars of Sunni Islam, the term hadith may include not only the supposed words, advice, practices, etc. of Muhammad, but also those of his companions.[18][19] In Shia Islam, Ḥadīth is the embodiment of the sunnah, the words and actions of the Prophet and his family the Ahl al-Bayt (The Twelve Imams and the Prophet's daughter, Fatimah).[20]

In Arabic, the noun ḥadīth (حديثIPA: [ħæˈdiːθ]) means "report", "account", or "narrative".[21][22] Its Arabic plural is aḥādīth (أحاديث[ʔæħæːˈdiːθ]).[3]Hadith also refers to the speech of a person.[23]

In Islamic terminology, according to Juan Campo, the term hadith refers to reports of statements or actions of Muhammad, or of his tacit approval or criticism of something said or done in his presence.[16]

Classical hadith specialist Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani says that the intended meaning of hadith in religious tradition is something attributed to Muhammad but that is not found in the Quran.[24]

Scholar Patricia Crone includes reports by others than Muhammad in her definition of hadith — "short reports (sometimes just a line or two) recording what an early figure, such as a companion of the prophet (known as sahabah) or Mohammed himself, said or did on a particular occasion, prefixed by a chain of transmitters". But she adds that "nowadays, hadith almost always means hadith from Mohammed himself."[25]

Other associated words possess similar meanings including: khabar (news, information) often refers to reports about Muhammad, but sometimes refers to traditions about his companions and their successors from the following generation; conversely, athar (trace, vestige) usually refers to traditions about the companions and successors, though sometimes connotes traditions about Muhammad.

However, according to the Shia Islam Ahlul Bayt Digital Library Project, "... when there is no clear Qur’anic statement, nor is there a Hadith upon which Muslim schools have agreed. ... Shi’a ... refer to Ahlul-Bayt for deriving the Sunnah of Prophet" — implying that while Hadith in limited to the "Traditions" of Muhammad, the Shia Sunna draws on the sayings, etc. of the Ahlul-Bayt i.e. the Imams of Shia Islam.[26]

The word sunnah (custom or "all the traditions and practices" of the Islamic prophet that "have become models to be followed" by Muslims) is also used in reference to a normative custom of Muhammad or the early Muslim community.[16]

Joseph Schacht describes hadith as providing "the documentation" of the Sunnah.[27]

Another source (Joseph A. Islam) distinguishes between the two saying:

Whereas the 'Hadith' is an oral communication that is allegedly derived from the Prophet or his teachings, the 'Sunna' (quite literally: mode of life, behaviour or example) signifies the prevailing customs of a particular community or people. ... A 'Sunna' is a practice which has been passed on by a community from generation to generation en masse, whereas the Ahadith are reports collected by later compilers often centuries removed from the source. ... A practice which is contained within the Hadith may well be regarded as Sunna, but it is not necessary that a Sunna would have a supporting hadith sanctioning it.[28]

Joseph Schacht quotes a Hadith by Muhammad that is used "to justify reference" in Islamic law to companions of Muhammad as religious authorities — "My companions are like lodestars."[30][31][32] According to Schacht, (and other scholars)[33][34] in the very first generations after the death of Muhammad, use of hadith from Sahabah ("companions" of Muhammad) and Tabi‘un ("successors" of the companions) "was the rule", while use of hadith of Muhammad himself by Muslims was "the exception".[27] Schacht credits Al-Shafi‘i — founder of the Shafi'i school of fiqh (or madh'hab) — with establishing the principle of the use of the ahadith of the Muhammad for Islamic law, and emphasizing the inferiority of hadith of anyone else, saying ahadith

"from other persons are of no account in the face of a tradition from the Prophet, whether they confirm or contradict it;
if the other persons had been aware of the tradition from the Prophet, they would have followed it".[35][36]

This led to "the almost complete neglect" of traditions from Companions and others.[37]

Collections of ahadith sometimes mix those of Muhammad with the reports of others. Muwatta Imam Malik is usually described as "the earliest written collection of hadith" but sayings of Muhammad are “blended with the sayings of the companions”,[38] (822 hadith from Muhammad and 898 from others, according to the count of one edition).[39][40]
In Introduction to Hadith by Abd al-Hadi al-Fadli, Kitab Ali is referred to as "the first hadith book of the Ahl al-Bayt (family of Muhammad) to be written on the authority of the Prophet".[41]

The theological importance of ahadith comes from several verses in the Quran such as:

Say: Obey Allah and obey the Messenger, but if you turn away, he (the Prophet) is only responsible for the duty placed on him (i.e. to convey Allah’s Message) and you for that placed on you. If you obey him, you shall be on the right guidance, the Messenger’s duty is only to convey (the message) in a clear way. (An-Nur 24:54)[42]

In God's messenger you have indeed a good example for everyone who looks forward with hope to God and the Last Day, and remembers God unceasingly. (Al-Ahzab 33: 21)[43]

The hadith literature is based on spoken reports in circulation after the death of Muhammad. Unlike the Qur'an, ahadith were not promptly written down during Muhammad's life or immediately after his death.[3] Hadith were evaluated and gathered into large collections during the 8th and 9th centuries, generations after the death of Muhammad, after the end of the era of the "rightful" Rashidun Caliphate, over 1,000 km (620 mi) from where Muhammad lived.[citation needed] "Many thousands of times" more numerous than Quranic verse,[44] ahadith have been described as resembling layers surrounding the “core” of the Islamic belief (the Quran). Well-known, widely accepted Hadiths make up the narrow inner layer, with ahadith becoming less reliable and accepted with each layer stretching outward.[45]

Unlike the Quran, ahadith are “grounded in the prosaic moments of everyday life".[44] The reports of behavior to be emulated that were collected include details of ritual religious practice such as the five salat (obligatory Islamic prayers) that are not found in the Quran, but also everyday behavior such as table manners,[46] dress,[47] posture.[48] Hadith are also regarded by Muslims as important tools for understanding things mentioned in the Quran but not explained, a source for tafsir (commentaries written on the Quran).

Some important elements, which are today taken to be a long-held part of Islamic practice and belief are not mentioned in the Qur'an at all, but are derived solely from the hadith.[49] Almost all Muslims, therefore, can be called Hadithists (i.e. believers in hadith), and maintain that the ahadith are a necessary requirement for the true and proper practice of Islam, as it gives Muslims the nuanced details of Islamic practice and belief in areas where the Qur'an is silent. Quranists, on the contrary, hold that if the Qur'an is silent on some matter, it is because Allah did not hold its detail to be of consequence; and that some ahadith contradict the Qur'an, evidence that some ahadith are a source of corruption and not a compliment to the Quran.

A classical example is salat (the five daily prayers of Islam), which is commanded in the Qur'an, and considered by all Muslims to be an obligatory part of Islamic religious practice -- one of the five pillars of Islam. Details of prescribed movements and words of the prayer (known as rakat) and how many times they are to be performed, are found in ahadith, demonstrating to Hadithists that ahadith "validly" fulfill the Qur'anic command of ritual prayer. However, ahadith differ on these details and consequently salat is performed differently by different hadithist Islamic sects. (Quranists, for their part, believe if Allah thought the details of salat to be consequence, would have included them in the Quran and that the details of salat are a matter between each individual Muslim and Allah, with correctly performed salat depending on a correct intention to perform the prayers, valid however it may be individually performed.)

Comparative importance of ahadith

Among most hadithists, the importance of ahadith is secondary to Qur'an given that, at least in theory, an Islamic conflict of laws doctrine holds Qur'anic supremacy above ahadith in developing Islamic jurisprudence.[50] However, a minority of hadithists have historically placed ahadith on a par with the Qur'an. A smaller minority have upheld ahadith in contradiction to the Qur'an, thereby placing ahadith above Qur'an and claiming that contradictory ahadith abrogate the parts of the Qur'an where they conflict.

It has been narrated through a chain of narrators, including Muhammad ibn Isma'il and originating with Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, that the Prophet Muhammad once addressed his people in Mina saying ‘O people, whatever comes to you in the form of my Hadith, if it agrees with the Holy Book of Allah, it is genuine, but whatever comes to you that does not agree with the book of Allah you must know that I have not said it.' [51]:5

The hadith had a profound and controversial influence on tafsir (commentaries of the Quran), the earliest commentary of the Quran known as Tafsir Ibn Abbas is sometimes attributed to the companion Ibn Abbas.

The hadith were used in forming the basis of Sharia (the religious law system forming part of the Islamic tradition), and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), the hadith are at the root of why there is no single fiqh system, but rather a collection of parallel systems within Islam.

Much of early Islamic history available today is also based on the hadith, although it has been challenged for its lack of basis in primary source material and the internal contradictions of the secondary material available.[citation needed]

Hadith may be hadith qudsi (sacred hadith) — which some Muslims regard as the words of God (Arabic: Allah) — or hadith sharif (noble hadith), which are Muhammad's own utterances.[52]

According to as-Sayyid ash-Sharif al-Jurjani, the hadith qudsi differ from the Quran in that the former are "expressed in Muhammad's words", whereas the latter are the "direct words of God". A hadith qudsi need not be a sahih (sound hadith), but may be da‘if or even mawdu‘.[53]

An example of a hadith qudsi is the hadith of Abu Hurairah who said that Muhammad said:

When God decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: My mercy prevails over My wrath.[54][non-primary source needed]

In the Shia school of thought, there are two fundamental viewpoints of Hadith: The Akhbari view and the Usuli view, the Usuli scholars stress the importance of scientific examination of Ahadith using ijtihad while the Akhbari scholars take all Ahadith from the four Shia books as authentic
[55].

The two major aspects of a hadith are the text of the report (the matn), which contains the actual narrative, and the chain of narrators (the isnad), which documents the route by which the report has been transmitted,[13][16] the isnad was an effort to document that a hadith had actually come from Muhammad, and Muslim scholars from the eighth century until today have never ceased repeating the mantra "The isnad is part of the religion — if not for the isnad, whoever wanted could say whatever they wanted."[13] The isnad means literally 'support', and it is so named due to the reliance of the hadith specialists upon it in determining the authenticity or weakness of a hadith.[56] The isnad consists of a chronological list of the narrators, each mentioning the one from whom they heard the hadith, until mentioning the originator of the matn along with the matn itself.

The first people to hear hadith were the companions who preserved it and then conveyed it to those after them. Then the generation following them received it, thus conveying it to those after them and so on. So a companion would say, "I heard the Prophet say such and such." The Follower would then say, "I heard a companion say, 'I heard the Prophet.'" The one after him would then say, "I heard someone say, 'I heard a Companion say, 'I heard the Prophet..." and so on.[57]

Some minor groups, collectively known as Quranists, reject the authority of the hadith collections altogether.[10][11]

In general, the difference between Shi'a and Sunni collections is that Shia give preference to ahadith credited to the Prophet's family and close associates (Ahl al-Bayt), while Sunnis do not consider family lineage in evaluating aHadith and Sunnah narrated by any of twelve thousand companions of Muhammad.[58]

Traditions of the life of Muhammad and the early history of Islam were passed down mostly orally for more than a hundred years after Muhammad's death in AD 632. Muslim historians say that CaliphUthman ibn Affan (the third khalifa (caliph) of the Rashidun Caliphate, or third successor of Muhammad, who had formerly been Muhammad's secretary), is generally believed to urge Muslims to record the hadith just as Muhammad suggested to some of his followers to write down his words and actions.[59][60]

Uthman's labours were cut short by his assassination, at the hands of aggrieved soldiers, in 656. No sources survive directly from this period so we are dependent on what later writers tell us about this period.[61]

According to British historian of Arab world Alfred Guillaume, it is "certain" that "several small collections" of hadith were "assembled in Umayyad times."[62]

In Islamic law, the use of hadith as now understood (hadith of Muhammad with documentation, isnads, etc.) came gradually. According to scholars such as Joseph Schacht, Ignaz Goldziher, and Daniel W. Brown, early schools of Islamic jurisprudence[63] used rulings of the Prophet’s Companions, the rulings of the Caliphs, and practices that “had gained general acceptance among the jurists of that school”. On his deathbed, Caliph Umar instructed Muslims to seek guidance from the Qur’an, the early Muslims (muhajirun) who emigrated to Medina with Muhammad, the Medina residents who welcomed and supported the muhajirun (the ansar), the people of the desert, and the protected communities of Jews and Christians (ahl al-dhimma). But did not mention Muhammad[64]

According to scholars Harald Motzki and Daniel W. Brown, the earliest Islamic legal reasonings that have come down to us were "virtually hadith-free", but gradually, over the course of second century A.H. "the infiltration and incorporation of Prophetic ahadith into Islamic jurisprudence" took place.[65][66]

It was Abū ʿAbdullāh Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (150-204 AH), known as al-Shafi'i[67][34] who emphasized the final authority of a hadith of Muhammad, so that even the Qur'an was "to be interpreted in the light of traditions (i.e. hadith), and not vice versa."[68][69] While traditionally the Quran is considered above the Sunna in authority, Al-Shafi'i "forcefully argued" that the sunna stands "on equal footing with the Quran", (according to scholar Daniel Brown) for (as Al-Shafi'i put it) “the command of the Prophet is the command of God.” [70][71]

In 851 the rationalist Mu`tazila school of thought fell from favor in the Abbasid Caliphate.[citation needed] The Mu`tazila, for whom the "judge of truth ... was human reason,"[72] had clashed with traditionists who looked to the literal meaning of the Quran and hadith for truth. While the Quran had been officially compiled and approved, hadiths had not.
One result was the number of hadiths began "multiplying in suspiciously direct correlation to their utility" to the quoter of the hadith (Traditionists quoted hadith warning against listening to human opinion instead of Sharia; Hanafites quoted a hadith stating that "In my community there will rise a man called Abu Hanifa [the Hanafite founder] who will be its guiding light". In fact one agreed upon hadith warned that, "There will be forgers, liars who will bring you hadiths which neither you nor your forefathers have heard, Beware of them."[73] In addition the number of hadith grew enormously. While Malik ibn Anas had attributed just 1720 statements or deeds to the Muhammad, it was no longer unusual to find people who had collected a hundred times that number of hadith.[citation needed]

Faced with a huge corpus of miscellaneous traditions supported differing views on a variety of controversial matters—some of them flatly contradicting each other—Islamic scholars of the Abbasid sought to authenticate hadith. Scholars had to decide which hadith were to be trusted as authentic and which had been invented for political or theological purposes. To do this, they used a number of techniques which Muslims now call the science of hadith.[74]

Sunni and Shia hadith collections differ because scholars from the two traditions differ as to the reliability of the narrators and transmitters. Narrators who took the side of Abu Bakr and Umar rather than Ali, in the disputes over leadership that followed the death of Muhammad, are seen as unreliable by the Shia; narrations sourced to Ali and the family of Muhammad, and to their supporters, are preferred. Sunni scholars put trust in narrators, such as Aisha, whom Shia reject. Differences in hadith collections have contributed to differences in worship practices and shari'a law and have hardened the dividing line between the two traditions.

In the Sunni tradition, the number of such texts is somewhere between seven and thirteen thousand,[75] but the number of ahadith is far greater because several isnad sharing the same text are each counted as individual ahadith. If, say, ten companions record a text reporting a single incident in the life of Muhammad, hadith scholars can count this as ten hadiths. So Musnad Ahmad, for example, has over 30,000 hadiths—but this count includes texts that are repeated in order to record slight variations within the text or within the chains of narrations. Identifying the narrators of the various texts, comparing their narrations of the same texts to identify both the soundest reporting of a text and the reporters who are most sound in their reporting occupied experts of hadith throughout the 2nd century; in the 3rd century of Islam (from 225/840 to about 275/889),[76]hadith experts composed brief works recording a selection of about two- to five-thousand such texts which they felt to have been most soundly documented or most widely referred to in the Muslim scholarly community.[77] The 4th and 5th century saw these six works being commented on quite widely, this auxiliary literature has contributed to making their study the place of departure for any serious study of hadith. In addition, Bukhari and Muslim in particular, claimed that they were collecting only the soundest of sound hadiths, these later scholars tested their claims and agreed to them, so that today, they are considered the most reliable collections of hadith.[78] Toward the end of the 5th century, Ibn al-Qaisarani formally standardized the Sunni canon into six pivotal works, a delineation which remains to this day.[79][80][81]

Over the centuries, several different categories of collections came into existence, some are more general, like the muṣannaf, the muʿjam, and the jāmiʿ, and some more specific, either characterized by the topics treated, like the sunan (restricted to legal-liturgical traditions), or by its composition, like the arbaʿīniyyāt (collections of forty hadiths).[82]

Shi'a Muslims hardly ever use the six major hadith collections followed by the Sunni, as they never usually trust many of the Sunni narrators and transmitters, they have their own extensive hadith literature. The best-known hadith collections are The Four Books, which were compiled by three authors who are known as the 'Three Muhammads',[83] the Four Books are: Kitab al-Kafi by Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni al-Razi (329 AH), Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih by Muhammad ibn Babuya and Al-Tahdhib and Al-Istibsar both by Shaykh Muhammad Tusi. Shi'a clerics also make use of extensive collections and commentaries by later authors.

Unlike Sunnis, the majority of Shia do not consider any of their hadith collections to be sahih (authentic) in their entirety. Therefore, every individual hadith in a specific collection must be investigated separately to determine its authenticity. However, the Akhbari school does take all hadith from the four books as authentic. [84]

The importance of Hadith in the Shia school of thought is well documented, this can be captured by Ali ibn Abi Talib, cousin of Muhammad, when he narrated that "Whoever of our Shia (followers) knows our Shariah and takes out the weak of our followers from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge (Hadith) which we (Ahl al-Bayt) have gifted to them, he on the day of judgement will come with a crown on his head. It will shine among the people gathered on the plain of resurrection."[51]Hassan al-Askari, a descendent of Muhammad, gave support to this narration, stating "Whoever he had taken out in the worldly life from the darkness of ignorance can hold to his light to be taken out of the darkness of the plain of resurrection to the garden (paradise). Then all those whomever he had taught in the worldly life anything of goodness, or had opened from his heart a lock of ignorance or had removed his doubts will come out."[51]

Regarding the importance of maintaining accuracy in recording Hadith, it has been documented that Muhammad al-Baqir, the great grandson of Muhammad, has said that "Holding back in a doubtful issue is better than entering destruction. Your not narrating a Hadith is better than you narrating a Hadith in which you have not studied thoroughly, on every truth, there is a reality. Above every right thing, there is a light. Whatever agrees with the book of Allah you must take it and whatever disagrees you must leave it alone."[51]:10 Al-Baqir also emphasized the selfless devotion of Ahl al-Bayt to preserving the traditions of the Islamic Prophet through his conversation with Jabir ibn Abd Allah, an old companion of Muhammad, he (Al-Baqir) said, "Oh Jabir, had we spoken to you from our opinions and desires, we would be counted among those who are destroyed. We speak to you of the Ahadith which we treasure from the Messenger of Allah, Oh Allah grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to your cause, just as they treasure their gold and silver."[51] Further, it has been narrated that Ja'far al-Sadiq, the son of al-Baqir, has said the following regarding hadith: "You must write it down; you will not memorize until you write it down."[51]:33

The mainstream sects consider hadith to be essential supplements to, and clarifications of, the Quran, Islam's holy book, as well as for clarifying issues pertaining to Islamic jurisprudence. Ibn al-Salah, a hadith specialist, described the relationship between hadith and other aspect of the religion by saying: "It is the science most pervasive in respect to the other sciences in their various branches, in particular to jurisprudence being the most important of them."[85] "The intended meaning of 'other sciences' here are those pertaining to religion," explains Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, "Quranic exegesis, hadith, and jurisprudence. The science of hadith became the most pervasive due to the need displayed by each of these three sciences, the need hadith has of its science is apparent. As for Quranic exegesis, then the preferred manner of explaining the speech of God is by means of what has been accepted as a statement of Muhammad, the one looking to this is in need of distinguishing the acceptable from the unacceptable. Regarding jurisprudence, then the jurist is in need of citing as an evidence the acceptable to the exception of the later, something only possible utilizing the science of hadith."[50]

According to Bernard Lewis, "in the early Islamic centuries there could be no better way of promoting a cause, an opinion, or a faction than to cite an appropriate action or utterance of the Prophet." To fight these forgeries, the elaborate science of hadith studies was devised.[86]
Hadith studies use a number of methods of evaluation developed by early Muslim scholars in determining the veracity of reports attributed to Muhammad, this is achieved by analyzing the text of the report, the scale of the report's transmission, the routes through which the report was transmitted, and the individual narrators involved in its transmission. On the basis of these criteria, various classifications were devised for hadith, the earliest comprehensive work in hadith studies was Abu Muhammad al-Ramahurmuzi'sal-Muhaddith al-Fasil, while another significant work was al-Hakim al-Naysaburi's Ma‘rifat ‘ulum al-hadith. Ibn al-Salah's ʻUlum al-hadith is considered the standard classical reference on hadith studies.[16]

By means of hadith terminology, hadith are categorized as ṣaḥīḥ (sound, authentic), ḍaʿīf (weak), or mawḍūʿ (fabricated). Other classifications used also include: ḥasan (good), which refers to an otherwise ṣaḥīḥ report suffering from minor deficiency, or a weak report strengthened due to numerous other corroborating reports; and munkar (denounced) which is a report that is rejected due to the presence of an unreliable transmitter contradicting another more reliable narrator.[87] Both sahīh and hasan reports are considered acceptable for usage in Islamic legal discourse. Classifications of hadith may also be based upon the scale of transmission. Reports that pass through many reliable transmitters at each point in the isnad up until their collection and transcription are known as mutawātir, these reports are considered the most authoritative as they pass through so many different routes that collusion between all of the transmitters becomes an impossibility. Reports not meeting this standard are known as aahad, and are of several different types.[16]

Another area of focus in the study of hadith is biographical analysis (‘ilm al-rijāl, lit. "science of people"), in which details about the transmitter are scrutinized. This includes analyzing their date and place of birth; familial connections; teachers and students; religiosity; moral behaviour; literary output; their travels; as well as their date of death. Based upon these criteria, the reliability (thiqāt) of the transmitter is assessed. Also determined is whether the individual was actually able to transmit the report, which is deduced from their contemporaneity and geographical proximity with the other transmitters in the chain.[88] Examples of biographical dictionaries include: Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi's Al-Kamal fi Asma' al-Rijal, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb and al-Dhahabi's Tadhkirat al-huffaz.[89]

The major points of intra-Muslim criticism of the Hadith literature is based in questions regarding its authenticity.[90] However, Muslim criticism of ahadith is also based on theological and philosophical Islamic grounds of argument and critique.

With regard to clarity, Imam Ali al-Ridha has narrated that "In our Hadith there are Mutashabih (unclear ones) like those in al-Quran as well as Muhkam (clear ones) like those of al-Quran. You must refer the unclear ones to the clear ones.” [51]:15.

Muslim scholars have a long history of questioning the Hadith literature throughout Islamic history. Western academics also became active in the field later on.

^The earliest book, Bukhari's Sahih was composed by 225/840 since he states that he spent sixteen years composing it (Hady al-Sari, introduction to Fath al-Bari, p. 489, Lahore: Dar Nashr al-Kutub al-Islamiya, 1981/1401) and also that he showed it to Yahya ibn Ma'in (p. 8, ibid.) who died in 233. Nasa'i, the last to die of the authors of the six books, died in 303/915, he probably completed this work a few decades before his death: by 275 or so.

^Counting multiple narrations of the same texts as a single text, the number of hadiths each author has recorded roughly as follows: Bukhari (as in Zabidi's Mukhtasar of Bukhari's book) 2134, Muslim (as in Mundhiri's Mukhtasar of Muslim's book) 2200, Tirmidhi 4000, Abu Dawud 4000, Nasa'i 4800, Ibn Majah 4300. There is considerable overlap amongst the six books so that Ibn al-Athir's Jami' al-Usul, which gathers together the hadiths texts of all six books deleting repeated texts, has about 9500 hadiths.

1.
Shia Islam
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Shia is a branch of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor. Shia Islam primarily contrasts with Sunni Islam, whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor, instead they consider Abu Bakr to be the correct Caliph. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shias of Ali, Shias or the Shia as a collective or Shii individually, Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam, in 2009, Shia Muslims constituted 10–13% of the worlds Muslim population. Twelver Shia is the largest branch of Shia Islam, in 2012 it was estimated that perhaps 85 percent of Shias were Twelvers. Shia Islam is based on the Quran and the message of Muhammad attested in hadith, Shia consider Ali to have been divinely appointed as the successor to Muhammad, and as the first Imam. The word Shia means follower and is the form of the historic phrase shīʻatu ʻAlī, meaning followers of Ali, faction of Ali. Shia and Shiism are forms used in English, while Shiite or Shiite, as well as Shia, the term for the first time was used at the time of Muhammad. At present, the word refers to the Muslims who believe that the leadership of the community after Muhammad belongs to Ali, nawbakhti states that the term Shia refers to a group of Muslims that at the time of Muhammad and after him regarded Ali as the Imam and Caliph. Al-Shahrastani expresses that the term Shia refers to those who believe that Ali is designated as the Heir, Imam and caliph by Muhammad, for the Shia, this conviction is implicit in the Quran and history of Islam. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing, Shia search for the true meaning of the revelation to get the purpose of the life blood and the human destiny. Shia Muslims believe that just as a prophet is appointed by God alone and they believe God chose Ali to be Muhammads successor, infallible, the first caliph of Islam. The Shias believe that Muhammad designated Ali as his successor by Gods command, Ali was Muhammads first cousin and closest living male relative as well as his son-in-law, having married Muhammads daughter Fatimah. Ali would eventually become the fourth Muslim caliph, after the Farewell Pilgrimage, Muhammad ordered the gathering of Muslims at the pond of Khumm and it was there that Shia Muslims believe Muhammad nominated Ali to be his successor. The hadith of the pond of Khumm was narrated on 18th of Dhu al-Hijjah of 10 AH in the Islamic calendar at a place called Ghadir Khumm, located near the city of al-Juhfah, Saudi Arabia. Muhammad there stated, Shia Muslims believe this to be Muhammads appointment of Ali as his successor, when Muhammad died in 632 CE, Ali and Muhammads closest relatives made the funeral arrangements. While they were preparing his body, Abu Bakr, Umar, Ali and his family accepted the appointment for the sake of unity in the early Muslim community. Alis rule over the early Muslim community was often contested, as a result, he had to struggle to maintain his power against the groups who betrayed him after giving allegiance to his succession, or those who wished to take his position. This dispute eventually led to the First Fitna, which was the first major civil war within the Islamic Caliphate, the Fitna began as a series of revolts fought against Ali ibn Abi Talib, caused by the assassination of his political predecessor, Uthman ibn Affan

2.
Ahmadiyya
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Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement founded in Punjab, British India, near the end of the 19th century. He claimed to have been appointed as the Mujaddid of Islam. The adherents of the Ahmadiyya movement are referred to as Ahmadi Muslims or simply Ahmadis, Ahmadiyya adherents believe that Ahmad appeared in the likeness of Jesus, to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice, and peace. Thus, Ahmadis view themselves as leading the revival and peaceful propagation of Islam, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the movement on 23 March 1889. The Ahmadis have a strong tradition and were among the earliest Muslim communities to arrive in Britain. Currently, the community is led by its Caliph, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the population is almost entirely contained in the single, highly organized and united movement. In this sense there is one major branch. Some Ahmadiyya-specific beliefs have been thought of as opposed to contemporary mainstream Islamic thought since the movements birth, many Muslims consider Ahmadi Muslims as either kafirs or heretics. In a manifesto dated 4 November 1900, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad explained that the name did not refer to himself but to Ahmad, the alternative name of Muhammad. According to Ahmad, these names refer to two aspects or phases of Islam, and in later times it was the latter aspect that commanded greater attention. He also called it the Ahmadiyya madhab, And it is permissible that this also be referred to as ‘Muslims of the Aḥmadī way. Ahmadi beliefs are more aligned with the Sunni tradition, than they are with the Shia tradition, such as The Five Pillars of Islam and The Six articles of Islamic Faith. Likewise, Ahmadis accept the Quran as their text, face the Kaaba during prayer, practice the Sunnah. These are the central beliefs constituting Ahmadi Muslim thought, the distinguishing feature of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is their belief in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, as prophesied by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Through the proclamation of truth and by putting an end to conflicts, I should bring about peace. I am called upon to demonstrate spirituality which lies buried under egoistic darkness and it is for me to demonstrate by practice, and not by words alone, the Divine powers which penetrate into a human being and are manifested through prayer or attention. All this will be accomplished, not through my power, but through the power of the Almighty God, Who is the God of heaven and he believed that his message had special relevance for the Western world, which, he believed, had descended into materialism. The message which the founders of these religions brought was, therefore, essentially the same as that of Islam, the completion and consummation of the development of religion came about with the advent of Muhammad

3.
Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion

4.
Sahih al-Bukhari
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Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī is one of the Kutub al-Sittah of Sunni Islam. These prophetic traditions, or hadith, were collected by the Persian Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari, Sunni Muslims view this as one of the two most trusted collections of hadith along with Sahih Muslim. It is also used as an authentic hadith collection by Zaidi Shia Muslims, in some circles, it is considered the most authentic book after the Quran. The Arabic word sahih translates as authentic or correct, the actual title of the book commonly referred to as Sahih al-Bukhari, according to Ibn al-Salah, is, al-Jaami’ al-Sahih al-Musnad al-Mukhtasar min Umuri Rasooli-llahi wa sunanihi wa Ayyaamihi. A word-for-word translation of the title is, The Abridged Collection of Authentic Hadith with Connected Chains regarding Matters Pertaining to the Prophet, His practices, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani mentioned the same title, replacing the word umur with hadith. Al-Bukhari traveled widely throughout the Abbasid Caliphate from the age of 16 and it is reported that al-Bukhari devoted 16 years to sifting the hadiths he included in his Sahih from a collection of nearly 600,000 narrations. Sources differ on the number of hadiths in Bukharis Sahih. This aroused his interest in compiling hadith whose authenticity was beyond doubt, what further strengthened his resolve was something his teacher, hadith scholar Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Hanthalee – better known as Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh – had told him. We were with Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh who said, ‘If only you would compile a book of only authentic narrations of the Prophet. ’ This suggestion remained in my heart so I began compiling the Sahih. Bukhari also said, I saw the Prophet in a dream, in my hand was a fan with which I was protecting him. I asked some dream interpreters, who said to me, ‘You will protect him from lies. ’ This is what compelled me to produce the Sahih. The book covers almost all aspects of life in providing guidance of Islam such as the method of performing prayers. Bukhari finished his work around 846/232 AH, and spent the last twenty-four years of his life visiting other cities and scholars, in every city that Bukhari visited, thousands of people would gather in the main mosque to listen to him recite traditions. During this period of years, al-Bukhari made minor revisions to his book. Each version is named by its narrator, according to Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in his book Nukat, the number of hadiths in all versions is the same. The most famous one today is the version narrated by al-Firabri, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in his book History of Baghdad quoted Firabri as saying, About seventy thousand people heard Sahih Bukhari with me. Firabri is not the transmitter of Sahih al-Bukhari. There were many others that narrated that book to later generations, such as Ibrahim ibn Maqal, Hammad ibn Shaker, Mansur Burduzi, there are many books that noted differences between these versions, the best known being Fath al-Bari

5.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested

6.
Sunni Islam
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Sunni Islam is the largest group of Islam. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the behavior of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to Sunni tradition, Muhammad did not clearly designate a successor and this contrasts with the Shia view, which holds that Muhammad intended his son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib to succeed him. Political tensions between Sunnis and Shias continued with varying intensity throughout Islamic history and they have been exacerbated in recent times by ethnic conflicts, as of 2009, Sunni Muslims constituted between 87–90% of the worlds Muslim population. Sunni Islam is the worlds largest religious denomination, followed by Catholicism and its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah or ahl as-sunnah for short. In English, its doctrines and practices are sometimes called Sunnism, while adherents are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites, Sunni Islam is sometimes referred to as orthodox Islam. The Quran, together with hadith and binding juristic consensus form the basis of all traditional jurisprudence within Sunni Islam, sunnī, also commonly referred to as Sunnīism, is a term derived from sunnah meaning habit, usual practice, custom, tradition. The Muslim use of this term refers to the sayings and living habits of the prophet Muhammad, in Arabic, this branch of Islam is referred to as ahl as-sunnah wa l-jamāʻah, the people of the sunnah and the community, which is commonly shortened to ahl as-sunnah. One common mistake is to assume that Sunni Islam represents a normative Islam that emerged during the period after Muhammads death, and that Sufism and Shiism developed out of Sunni Islam. This perception is due to the reliance on highly ideological sources that have been accepted as reliable historical works. Both Sunnism and Shiaism are the end products of centuries of competition between ideologies. Both sects used each other to further cement their own identities and doctrines, the first four caliphs are known among Sunnis as the Rashidun or Rightly-Guided Ones. Sunni recognition includes the aforementioned Abu Bakr as the first, Umar who established the Islamic calendar as the second, Uthman as the third, Sunnis believe that the companions of Muhammad were the best of Muslims. Support for this view is found in the Quran, according to Sunnis. Sunnis also believe that the companions were true believers since it was the companions who were given the task of compiling the Quran, furthermore, narrations that were narrated by the companions are considered by Sunnis to be a second source of knowledge of the Muslim faith. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2010 and released January 2011 found that there are 1.62 billion Muslims around the world, Islam does not have a formal hierarchy or clergy. Leaders are informal, and gain influence through study to become a scholar of Islamic law, according to the Islamic Center of Columbia, South Carolina, anyone with the intelligence and the will can become an Islamic scholar. During Midday Mosque services on Fridays, the congregation will choose a person to lead the service

7.
Tahdhib al-Ahkam
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Tahdhib al-Ahkam is a Hadith collection, by Twelver Shia Hadith scholar Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn Hassan Tusi, commonly known as Shaykh Tusi. This work is included among the four books of Shia Islam and it is a commentary on the Al-Muqniyah by Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid, was a Twelver Shia theologian. Tahdhib al-Ahkam is translated by Ludwig W. Adamec as confirmation of decision, Abu Jafar Muhammad Ibn Hassan Tusi known as Shaykh al-Taifah or Shaykh al-Tusi. Shaykh Tusi was born in 996 AD in Tus, Iran and he was a Persian Shia Twelver scholar and authored two references of Shia collections of tradition, Tahdhib al-Ahkam and Al-Istibsar. Al-Shaikh al-Tusi died in Najaf on the 22nd of Muharram on 2 December 1067, Al-Istibsar is one of the four major Shia collections of Hadith authored by Shaykh Tusi. According to Ali Nasiri, when Shaykh Tusi transferred to Baghdad and participated in the session of Shaykh al-Mufid. Shaykh Tusi explained his style in authoring the Tahdhib al-Ahkam in the introduction of it, the types of Quranic evidence was described by him. Also, according to his belief, Sunnah may contain Mutawatir tradition or Ahaad, in view of Shaykh Tusi, consensus referred to agreement of Shia Muslim scholars. Recounting the Hadith proof, one of the part at Tahdhib al-Ahkam is to rely on the tradition that protect every issues. Recounting the conflicting proof, rectifying the conflicting tradition was a purpose of Shaykh Tusi for authoring this book. So he devoted the main part of his work to examine such this tradition with tradition that verify every issues, describing the way of rectifying concordant and conflicting traditions, after determining this type of tradition, Shaykh Tusi inspect the way of rectifying. Citing tradition in a bid to declare the interpretation, Shakh Tusi used interpretation and rationalization to rectifying concordant and this variance between reports had led by mistake in counting

8.
Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah
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Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah is a medical dissertation on health and remedies attributed to Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, the eighth Imam of Shia. He wrote this dissertation in accordance with the demand of Mamun and it is revered as the most precious Islamic literature in the science of medicine, and was entitled the golden treatise as Mamun had ordered it written in gold ink. The chain of narrators is said to reach Muhammad ibn Jumhoor or al-Hassan ibn Muhammad al-Nawfali who is described as highly esteemed, the treatise of Ali al-Ridha includes scientific branches such as Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry and Pathology when medical science was still primitive. According to the treatise, ones health is determined by four humors of blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm, the liver plays an important role in producing and maintaining the required proportions in the body. Ali al-Ridha describes the body as a kingdom whose king is the heart while the vessels, the limbs, the treatise is authored by Ali al-Ridha who was the seventh descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the eighth of the Twelve Imams. His given name was Alī ibn Mūsā ibn Jafar and he did not outlive Mamun, having been given poisoned grapes by him while accompanying him in Persia, and died at Tus on May 26,818. Ali al-Ridha is buried within Imam Ridha Mosque, in Mashhad, the Mamuns palace was a center for philosophical and scientific researches in which many scientific seminars were held. One of the seminars was on mans body which included the greatest scholars and leaders. Bakhtishu, Masawaiyh and Salih ibn Salhama were some participants of that medical seminar, the participants were involved in a lengthy discussion about the body makeup and various types of foods, while Ali al-Ridha kept silent. I shall compile it with a portion of what everyone should know. The dissertation of Ali al-Ridha includes scientific branches such as Anatomy, Physiology, Chemistry and it begins as follows, In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Know, when Allah tries a servant with a disease, he appoints for him a medicine in order to cure himself with it, and for every kind of there is a kind of medicine, conduct. Ali al-Ridha writes in his treatise that ones health is in accordance with the balance of phlegm, yellow bile, blood and black bile, nutrition and traditional medicine may be used to cure imbalances. The liver plays an important role in producing and maintaining the proportions in the body. Ali al-Ridha describes the body as a kingdom whose king is the heart while the vessels, the limbs, therefore, the hands are two helpers which bring near, take away, and work as the king reveals to them. The legs are kings vehicle and carry him wherever he likes. The eyes lead the king to that which disappears from him Imam al-Rida names the main organs of the body as the heart, the nerves, the brain, the hands and the Legs the ear. He discusses their characteristics and functions in detail, regarding the human body containing systems and cells he said, Do you think that you are a small body, while the greatest world has folded itself in you

9.
Sahih Muslim
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Sahih Muslim is one of the Kutub al-Sittah in Sunni Islam. It is highly acclaimed by Sunni Muslims and considered the second most authentic hadith collection after Sahih al-Bukhari as well as Zaidi Shia Muslims and it was collected by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, also known as Imam Muslim. Sahih translates as authentic or correct and its authenticity has sometimes been questioned due to the fact that it was written over 250 years after the Islamic Prophet, Muhammed. Regardless of this, Sunni Muslims believe it to be genuine, the collector of the Sahih Muslim, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, was born into a Persian family in 204 AH in Nishapur and died in 261 AH in the city of his birth. He traveled widely to gather his collection of ahadith, including to areas now in Iraq, out of 300,000 hadith which he evaluated, approximately 4,000 were extracted for inclusion into his collection based on stringent acceptance criteria. Each report in his collection was checked and the veracity of the chain of reporters was painstakingly established, Sunni Muslims consider it the second most authentic hadith collection, after Sahih al-Bukhari. Sahih Muslim is divided into 43 books, containing a total of 7190 narrations, according to Munthiri, there are a total of 2,200 hadiths in Sahih Muslim. According to Muhammad Amin, there are 1,400 authentic hadiths that are reported in other books, Shia Muslims dismiss some of its contents as fabrications or untrustworthy due to the questionable reliability of some narrators. Muhammad al-Bukhari has not followed such a strict criterion, scientific arrangement of themes and chapters. The author, for example, selects a place for the narrative and, next to it. Muhammad al-Bukhari has not followed this method, consequently, in the exercise of understanding ahādīth. Sahīh of Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj offers the best material to the students, Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj informs us whose wordings among the narrators he has used. For example, he says, haddathanā fulān wa fulān wallafz lifulān, similarly he mentions whether, in a particular hadīth, the narrators have differed over the wordings even over a single letter of zero semantic significance. He also informs the readers if narrators have differed over a specific quality, surname, siyanah Sahih Muslim by Ibn al-Salah, of which only the beginning segment remains Al Minhaj Be Sharh Sahih Muslim by Al-Nawawi. Fath al-Mulhim by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, takmilat Fath al-Mulhim by Muhammad Taqi Usmani. Summarized Sahih Muslim by Abd-al-Hamid Siddiqui, the text is used in the USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts

10.
Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain
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Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain is a five volume hadith collection written by Hakim al-Nishapuri (Nishapur is located in He wrote it in the year 393 AH, when he was 72 years old. He claimed all hadith in it were according to the conditions of either Sahih al-Bukhari or Sahih Muslim or both. The statement of authenticity was not accepted by a number of prominent later Sunni scholars, al-Dhahabi, a 14th century Sunni Shafii Islamic scholar made an abridged version of the collection named Talkhis al-Mustadrak where he commented on its authenticity. In doing so, they are referring to al-Dhahabis Talkhîs, his abridgement of the Mustadrak that is published along with it in its margins. Perhaps the total number of such hadîth comprises half the book, there is roughly another quarter of the hadîth that have authentic chains of transmission, but that have something else about them or that have some defect. As for the rest, and that is about a fourth, they are rejected, I came to know of them when I prepared an abridgement of the Mustadrak and pointed them out. Al-Dhahabi lamented, It would have been better if al-Hakim had never compiled it, Talkhis al-Mustadrak is an abridged version of Al-Mustadrak alaa al-Sahihain, written by al-Dhahabi. Al-Dhahabi in his Talkhis al-Mustadrak made an abridged version, in that version, he added his comments on 1182 hadith. Al-Dhahabî in his encyclopedic Târikh al-Islam The History of Islam says the following in his entry on al-Hâkim, wherein he speaks about his Mustadrak. I came to know of them when I prepared an abridgement of the Mustadrak, al-Dhahabî said of it, |It is a useful book. I had made an abridgement of it that is in considerable need of work, on at least three other occasions, al-Dhahabi citicised hadith he had not commented on in his Talkhîs. For example, when speaking about Muâwiyah b, sâlih, he writes, He is among those narrators whom Muslim accepts but not al-Bukhârî. You can see al-Hâkim relating this narrators hadîth in his Mustadrak and say, however, when the same statement comes up in his Talkhîs, he says nothing about it. Many contemporary scholars follow this view as well, but some question that stance